Influence

by Andrew Snadden

  Anaura tilted his head forwards and pointed at Richards in agreement. Although he respected the work Surveillance did, nicking the Gang came well before pissing off a few specialist colleagues. This operation called for good old investigative work with officers talking to informants, nicking and influencing the right people; with few stakeouts thrown in for good measure too. Anaura had made up his mind. Richards got up and went outside to speak to Valera and Usher while Anaura called up Steiner, who after listening to what Anaura was proposing with the surveillance teams, didn't sound too enthused with the idea.

  “I'm not sure I'm in agreement with you on this one Peter. Have you considered that we could lose a vital source of intelligence from dropping them? I'm really not sure about this.” Steiner said.

  “Jason, listen, the Gang aren't doing anything out of place or blatantly illegal so apart from risking them becoming aware that we're following them, what are we getting that makes taking the chance so worthwhile!” Anaura replied.

  “Ok Peter, it's your call, your show. If you think we're better off doing it old school then I'll support you but for the record I don't fully agree.” He replied.

  “Trust me Jason, you won't regret this!”.

  Anaura finished the call and walked out into the office.

  “Guys listen up! This is now solely an investigative operation without surveillance! Ian, Naomi, Jennifer, we're going to continue rattling cages under the radar while you guys from Intel are going to start trying to locate where Cooper's been going in harbour and then setting up an Observational Post to keep an eye on him!” Anaura instructed.

  The intelligence officers smiled at each other. With the departure of the Surveillance teams they would be getting out on the ground more often and not just stuck behind a desk. However the two female detectives seemed slightly more reserved about the decision.

  Anaura walked over to Valera and Usher and asked them why they didn't look a hundred percent comfortable with the decision. The two detectives replied that they wondered whether dropping surveillance would create gaps in the operation and make it more difficult overall, to pin the Gang down to meeting places. Anaura sat down the opposite way around on a swivel chair, leant over it and then spun from side to side. He smiled and told Valera and Usher that ordinarily they would have been right; but then this was no ordinary job, and when Surveillance's results had been less fruitful than hoped for, it was time to focus on the tried and tested methods. Richard nodded his head in agreement. He continued to explain that if they got control of Kennedy, they would get more evidence and intelligence than following them ever could. And besides the Gang had been followed in the past and they had always seemed to know it was happening, instantly ceasing their business activities as a result. It was as though they mysteriously knew about the surveillance operations before the officers on the ground did. It just wasn't worth it. Had Surveillance come up with something solid then he would have kept them rolling. They had not but the detectives had. Valera and Usher indicated to Anaura they were totally with him despite the move being a little unorthodox by modern investigative methods.

  “There is a reason I'm a DI you know!” he said, poking fun at their concerns about his choices.

  He would never take offence to his staff speaking their minds or expressing their concerns. He may have been the boss but he wasn't above making poor decisions from time to time. And if they still didn't like something after a discussion, then it was perhaps something he needed to reconsider as well. Anaura rubbed his hands together and called everyone into the briefing room.

  “Right we're stepping up our activities! Firstly I want you intelligence guys to watch Basin Road South in pairs from five o'clock in the evening until one am in the morning until you ascertain where Cooper and maybe the others are going. My lot, we're going to start moving in on Kennedy hard, it's been over two weeks since Nash grassed him up and we've hardly made any huge leaps forward! It's time for us to go to his address and wait for him or one of his associates to slip up, let's make something happen!”

  The officers acknowledged him with enthusiasm and then left the room, leaving Richards and Anaura behind.

  “Peter, do you ever get that sinking feeling where you not sure if something is going to work out.” Richards enquired.

  “What, like this Operation Ian?”

  “Yeah.” Richards replied.

  “Every bloody day mate! That's why I've decided on being more direct, more purposeful. I know deep down this is our only shot at this, and I would rather have a good crack at it and fail, than sit around for months and months waiting and wishing for something solid to materialise. We need to clamp down on these bastards asap!” Anaura said.

  “I agree Peter, I do, but just a friendly bit of advice mate. Don't go steaming in headstrong to prove a point, we still need to tread carefully with these guys.”

  Anaura listened and digested what his long-time friend and colleague had just said to him, Richards was right, he was going to have to calm things down a bit to limit cock ups. Anaura winked at him and asked him if he wanted a brew to which Richards replied “Does a bear shit in the woods?”

  He left the briefing room and told Richards that he would meet him back in their office. As he reached the main office door he was met by a smart suited man entering the room, “Bloody locks again!” He muttered to himself.

  “DI Anaura I take it?” The suit wearing middle aged man asked in an extremely well-spoken voice.

  “Yes, and you are?” He replied.

  “Well I'm a Superintendent, so you can call me sir!” The man arrogantly replied.

  Anaura had never seen this Superintendent before but was more concerned with how he had gained access to the office and enquired how he had got in. The Superintendent replied that he used his pass before changing the subject and asking Anaura if they could have a private word together. Still suspicious of the man, Anaura agreed and asked him to accompany him out to the kitchen where he was going to make drinks.

  “So what can I do for you sir?” Anaura asked in an inquisitive tone of voice as he leant up against the kitchen worktop.

  The Superintendent brushed some crumbs off of a chair and sat down before making strong eye contact with Anaura and asking,“Do you know Chief Superintendent Drayson, Detective Inspector?”

  “I know him, why's that sir, and please call me Peter” Anaura responded with more confusion, it was the last thing he thought he would be discussing with the unknown command officer.

  “If you don't mind, Peter, I'll ask the questions.”

  “Alright” Anaura replied with annoyance.

  “Have you heard any rumours about him or his methods?” The Superintendent asked.

  “Well, personally I'm not that big a fan, and I've always wondered how he managed to lock up all the big hitters in the City in such quick time. But hey, I guess some people are just lucky sir!” Anaura said.

  “Quite. Anything else? Was he ever successful in getting close to, say, the Gang during his tenure as the head of Serious and Organised crime?”

  “No, no one's ever got close to the Gang, especially Drayson. He just never seemed to be able to make a case against them, probably why no one bothers anymore.” Anaura replied beginning to wonder where this conversation was heading and trying to cover up that Op Spear was taking place.

  “Right, I must go. I wonder whether you could do me a favour? Could you listen out for any gossip or info on Drayson without telling anyone else?” The superintendent asked.

  “Yeah sure, although I don't really know what you're expecting to learn?”

  The unknown superintendent stood up from the seat, smiled at Anaura and passed him a Scotland Yard business card with a mobile number and nothing else while requesting that Anaura immediately relay anything he might hear about Drayson back to him. The Superintendent started to walk out of the kitchen.

  “Sorry sir, I didn't catch your name!” Anaura called out.

  “That's because I d
idn't tell you Inspector” he responded arrogantly.

  Anaura ran to the kitchen door and asked the Superintendent why he had asked him to have an ear to the ground about Drayson.

  “Why not you? Who knows, maybe something will come up as you follow the same leads; or not?” The Superintendent said as he walked out of the rear entrance without even looking back at Anaura.

  Anaura looked down at the card he had been given and tapped it on his palm as he walked back into the supervisor's office and sat down with Richards who asked him who the suited man was. Anaura replied that even after speaking to him for fifteen minutes, he still wasn't sure of his identity himself, other than that he was a superintendent. He asked Richards to keep what he was about to say to him secret.

  “That Superintendent has just asked me to keep an eye on Drayson and I haven't got a clue why!” Anaura told Richards with utter confusion.

  Anaura had never liked Drayson but he was popular with the Chief and other commanding officers, so why would a Superintendent from London be interested in him he wondered. In the end, he didn't really care, even less so when the person asking him had been such an obnoxious former public school boy type, and especially when he hadn't been polite enough to tell him his name. Besides, the most likely scenario was that Drayson was being investigated by an outside agency to ensure that he was suitable enough to be promoted to such a high rank. This was not uncommon for roles or positions where a higher level of vetting was required, the investigators would literally try to learn everything about the officer's career and their personal life, even if it meant asking people who did not like them as well. Richards reflected his theory, citing that it was best to let them get on with it as they had bigger fish to fry.

  AWOL

  Chapter Twenty One

  Drayson put his pass up to the Serious and Organised Crime Units office door in the City's North Police Station, and walked through after his card was accepted. This used to be his office, his unit and as a result he was always warmly welcomed by the SOCU staff. During his tenure as the head of the department he had always looked after the staff and with his high detection and conviction rate of some of the City's most notorious criminals, a lot of the officers of the unit were slightly in awe and saw him as a bit of a thief taker. However the new boss of the unit wasn't so keen on him and saw Drayson as someone not to be fully trusted.

  As he walked into the main office his arrival was greeted by the unit's Surveillance teams and detectives, who asked him to take a seat to have a catch up. They exchanged pleasantries for about fifteen minutes until Drayson asked why they were all sat in the office and not out there on 'the big job'. One of the Surveillance constables enquired how he knew about the operation, and even though he didn't, he responded that he had his sources and asked what it had been like to work for the egotistical DI Anaura. The officers shook their heads before one of them answered that he had been a nice guy. No sooner than she had said it, one of the male officers piped up and told Drayson that he thought Anaura was an arsehole who didn't know the first thing about running a big operation. Drayson beamed a huge grin at him and whispered that he agreed but not to tell anyone that.

  “He's thrown us off the Op sir, can you believe that?” PC James Farrell said before telling Drayson that now no one would be watching the Gang which in his mind was the worst tactical decision he had ever known a governor to make.

  “Well guys, you said it yourself, he's not a SOCU supervisor so he's going to make poor tactical decisions! Anyway if we didn't manage to get them, why would the All Black succeed?” Drayson quipped referring to Anaura's 'foreign' heritage in a tongue and cheek manner.

  Chalmers and King walked in and were greeted by Drayson asking them how they felt about being kicked off the job by Anaura. Chalmers glanced at King before facing Drayson and asking him how he knew about it. Drayson replied that he had his sources which made King survey the faces of his team and then shoot them annoyed looks for discussing it with him.

  “Yes sir, however we've got another job on now. I suppose Anaura had his reasons and anyway we shouldn't really be discussing it with anyone who wasn't involved in the operation” Chalmers said.

  Although a lot of the officers were in awe of Drayson, King and Chalmers were not, and despite being frustrated by Anaura's decision they were not going to start discussing it with him. If there was one thing Chalmers was known for, it was that he wasn't scared of speaking his mind to command. Drayson hid the resentment he was feeling towards the two men and nodded in acknowledgement with a smile, and then declaring how he had taught them well. King didn't say anything but Chalmers responded by telling Drayson that they had to get their team briefed up and would see him around. Drayson shot him a cold stare before smiling and standing up. He said his good byes and left the office. King and Chalmers may have stopped him learning the finer details of the operation, however he discovered a few things, Anaura was bungling the operation to a level of incompetence and SOCU Surveillance were no longer following his associates. It was perfect without anyone watching the Gang, Foster would be able to slip under the radar to get the job done. Even better was the fact that Anaura was screwing the job up just enough that when Fosters murders were discovered, he would be able to muscle his way into taking over the operation.

  As he walked out of the office his pay as you go phone began to ring.

  “Robbie. We've got a little problem! Nick has gone AWOL and we can't find him, it's been three days now. Do you know where he could be? His wife's been on the phone giving me grief and threatening to call your lot, which is a bloody bad idea. I think he's gone on a bender with one of those little queers, however it's been three days! Can you help?” Bradford asked.

  “Yeah no worries, I'll have a look for him myself, I've got a few ideas!” Drayson answered with fake concern.

  “Fabulous. Oh one last thing, are we still good for our family's arrival in late September? Do you think your friends will be coming or have they found something better to do?” Bradford enquired using a simple coded message to establish whether the Gang's next large drug shipment was safe to proceed.

  “I'm afraid my friends can't make it! I hope your family bring me a few gifts for all the trouble I went to though!?” Drayson said.

  “Yeah, they'll see you right, don't worry about that. Let us know how you get on finding Nick the prick!” Bradford replied before hanging up the phone without so much as a bye.

  Drayson put the phone into his pocket and carried on walking down the stairs towards the exit where his car was parked. The nerves he'd had three days ago about Foster getting the job done had been settled somewhat. To cover all bases though he decided that checking the serials for anything that might relate to Sykes was probably prudent. He sat down in the driver's seat of his command Focus and reflected on the developing situation, finding it hard to believe that he might actually be able pull it all off. Once the gang had been eliminated there would be no more worries about being outed and he could look forward to his promotion and ever approaching fruitful retirement. Then something Drayson hadn't considered during his planning abruptly entered his brain. He had been so desperate to plan and get everything moving as fast as possible that he had forgotten to work out how to deal with Foster after he was finished. Pissed off with himself for being lax, Drayson whacked the inside of the driver’s door as he tried to quickly think of ideas, but nothing came to mind. Sure, Foster would be seen as a nutter if he claimed on arrest that he was on an undercover operation. However, be that as it may, it was still something that would cast suspicion, or perhaps worse for him.

  Drayson drove out of the station's main green gates and began heading towards Headquarters. This was a problem, a big problem, and one without an obvious solution. Drayson explored a couple of different options in his head, one being that he would kill Foster himself, but discounted the idea when he considered that it could still potentially come back to him. As he joined the dual carriageway he shouted out “SHIT” to
himself. As with every plan, there would always be a flaw somewhere, something unseen or forgotten. The conundrum of Foster was going to have to be solved, but for now he just hoped that Foster would finish the job as quickly as possible.

  On arrival at his office within the main Headquarters building, Drayson jumped onto his computer terminal and sifted through the reported incidents that had come in over the past few days. After two pages there had not been any mention of anything happening at Devils Valley, until half way down that day's list, the words 'Devils Valley and dark blue BMW' were seen in the headline. He breathed in sharply as his eyes locked on the headline and then took a moment to prepare himself for what may have been Foster screwing up before clicking on the log to read through it. His jacked heart rate began to slow as he learnt that the landlord of the public house had called in to say that the vehicle had been suspiciously left there for three days, but he had been told by a call handler that it hadn't been reported stolen and if it was taxed and insured then there was nothing they could do about it unless anything was reported.

  Drayson grinned, with Syke's wife being warned off reporting him missing and with the Gang requesting that he search for him, it was safe to say that before anyone discovered what had happened, it would be too late. He flicked the pendulum balls on his desk and watched as they collided with one another before swinging to and fro in unison. If he found a solution for Foster he could still come out of this smelling of roses!

  An Eventful Evening

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Anaura and Usher had been sat up on Fox Way, Portsden District in their black unmarked Ford Mondeo for six hours looking out for any known subjects entering Warrior Close to attend Kennedy's house on the corner of the road, and bar the odd unavoidable toilet break, they had not left the spot they were in. It was seriously boring but absolutely necessary work.